She's the Boss
by cobrafantasies
Summary: Joey meets the gang when he becomes Rachel Green's new assistant.
1. Chapter 1

**Author:** Jen

**Author's** **Note:** This idea is taken from the storyline when Rachel is working at Ralph Lauren and hires Tag as her new assistant. Instead of Tag, it was Joey who came in for the interview. Joey never met the gang or moved in with Chandler. The rest of the gang still know each other and have the same past.

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately, I do not own anything or any of the characters

**A**/**N:** Joey meets the gang when he becomes Rachel Green's new assistant.

* * *

I walk into the office that reads "Rachel Green" on the name plate outside and the last thing I'm expecting to find is a gorgeous brunette in a smoking hot, leather skirt. I stop for a moment, staring, but then she spots me.

"Hi," I smile probably too broadly.

"Oh, hi... the models are down the hall," she directs me, assuming I'm in the wrong place.

It makes me grin even wider. I should tell her the same thing and I almost do, but I realize I can't flirt with my, hopefully, soon to be boss.

"Oh, no I'm here for the assistant job," I clarify.

I walk into the room and offer her my resume.

She pauses while tilting her head unexpectedly at this revelation, but then quickly accepts the paper from my hand.

"Oh, wow - I mean, of course - hi, I'm Rachel Green," she stumbles a bit, which I only find adorable.

She extends her hand out to me and I take her hand.

"Joey Tribbani."

"Please, take a seat."

I sit in the chair across from her desk and she sits back down while reading over my resume. I know my experience is not great, I'm already preparing to simply charm my way through this and hope she takes a huge chance on me because I need a job... _bad_. I've been hurting for money lately as I haven't gotten any gigs lately.

"Huh, so you are an actor?" she confirms in a overly optimistic voice because we both know acting isn't going to help me get this assistant job.

"Yes, but I've also done a few waiter jobs and a phone salesman once - also, I'm really great at listening and writing lists," I add enthusiastically.

She instantly smiles - that's a good sign.

"I'm sure you are," she chuckles lightheartedly at my new additions.

She looks down at my resume again, this is where all the people interviewing me contemplate whether to seriously consider me as a candidate or simply ask me to leave. I think I have an advantage here being that Rachel is young and attractive and I'm pretty sure she finds me attractive too.

"I know I don't have much assistant experience, but I think I could do a really great job," I press.

"Oh, what are you talking about? I'm sure acting has helped your interpersonal skills!" she surprisingly encourages me.

My eyes widen, is she actually considering me? I get excited until I quickly get lost on how to answer her.

"Yes, interper— um... what was that?" I whisper nervously.

"Interpersonal skills, like people skills: communication, listening - which you already told me you're great at," she explains with another promising reassurance.

"Yes, I am definitely listening - do you want me to start a list?" I ask eagerly.

She laughs at this request, I'm not quite sure why, but she's still smiling so I'm thinking it's a good thing.

"Well, Joey, you're honestly not as qualified as some of my other candidates..." she begins and I immediately frown.

I start to get up, assuming she's about to cut this interview short.

"I'll go," I sigh.

"Wait, Joey no I was going say..." she jumps up with me, but pauses before finishing her sentence.

I wait wondering if she's about to make a bad decision right now.

"I was going to say, when can you start?" she smiles at me.

My face lights up. Wow, she really did make a bad decision, she must _really_ find me attractive.

* * *

I accept the job offer and I can't believe I'm actually going to be able to pay rent this month.

I start the very next day and when I arrive at the office, Rachel shows me my new desk which is in the hallway, right outside her office.

While she's showing me my desk and computer and the rest of the boring office supplies, I'm just staring at her. God, she's hot.

I know you're not supposed to sleep with your boss, but I never really understood that rule.

Luckily, she doesn't notice I'm not paying attention and continues to pull out a piece of paper from a folder she's holding.

"So, here is your list of to-dos for today - I know you love lists," she grins at me.

I match her smile right back.

Does she like me? She hired me for a job when I had to be the least qualified and now she made me a list. And don't even get me started on how much she smiles at me. Man, she really is so hot. Are people sure you're not supposed to fool around with your boss? I really need to ask someone about that.

She hands me the list.

"Thanks," I say, accepting the piece of paper.

"It's pretty basic stuff, but let me know if you have any questions," she says.

_Yeah, are you single? Do you want to hook up with your new assistant?_

I don't ask anything and nod my head.

"Will do, boss," I state.

She chuckles again and then heads back to her office.

* * *

I'm working my way through Rachel's list and it's really easy things: getting coffee, checking messages, organizing fabric samples, and other menial tasks.

I'm sitting at my desk in the afternoon when a man walks into the hallway and stops before Rachel's door, which is closed.

"Hi, can I help you?" I ask the stranger nicely.

The man turns around and looks at me with an unhappy expression.

"Who are you?" he inquires with distaste.

"Joey, I'm Rachel's new assistant," I respond with a friendly smile even though this guy is being rude.

"Oh, hrm," he makes a dissatisfied sound.

_What is this guy's problem?_

"Can I help you with something?" I repeat my question.

"I need to talk to Rachel, I'm her... good friend," he tells me.

"Well, she's on a call for the next ten minutes, can I get your name?" I inquire and I'm so proud of how damn professional I sound.

"Ross," he says.

I write down Ross and then look up at him, waiting for his last name.

"Geller - she knows who I am," he argues.

"I will tell her she has a Ross Geller waiting for her, after her call. You can wait here if you want," I declare and point to two chairs placed by the door to the hallway.

Ross again looks disgruntled with this direction, but decides to go and sit in one of the chairs.

When Rachel's call is done, I page her phone and tell her that a Ross Geller is here to see her.

She thanks me and tells me to send him in.

Ross gets up and begins walking right into her office before I even direct him. I sit back down, annoyed this guy won't let me do my job. I'm about to walk downstairs to get another coffee for myself when I hear Ross's voice again. I look back at Rachel's office, but the door is still closed. Then, I hear Rachel's voice and realize the button on her phone must be stuck and I can hear their entire conversation from the speaker on my desk phone.

I go to try and turn off my phone or page her back to tell her, but then Ross mentions me and I freeze over my phone.

"So, what's that out there? You hired that guy Joey as your assistant?" he questions her.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" she questions him back.

"What happened to Olga, she seemed like a great candidate," Ross presses.

"She was seventy-five Ross," Rachel pushes back.

"Well, this Joey seems a bit _too_ young don't you think? And a bit too good-looking, is he even qualified?" Ross tests her.

I roll my eyes at Ross's interrogation.

"Look Ross, it's none of your business who I hire. What do you want?" Rachel fires back in my defense and I can't help, but beam at this.

I really think she likes me and I would really like to know what she looks like naked, so this is looking like another step in the right direction.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I just came here to talk about last night. We never discussed anything and...well, I really enjoyed last night," Ross continues.

Oh no, this doesn't sound good.

"Oh, well, I...um enjoyed it too," Rachel responds with the last thing I wanted to hear her say.

"Maybe, we could try this again?" Ross says.

_No - say no Rachel - sleep with your assistant Joey instead!_

"Give _us_ a try again?" Rachel clarifies.

"Yeah, why not?" Ross asks.

I'm shaking my head, praying she's about to turn him down.

Instead, she does the opposite.

"What the hell, right?" she breathes.

I drop my head in sorrow. There's goes my hot boss hook up.

The next thing I hear is Rachel softly moan and I scramble for the off button.

I can't figure out how to turn it off on my end since it's her button that must be stuck, so I yank the cord and unplug the entire phone.


	2. Chapter 2

I spend the next half hour downstairs getting coffee and trying not to think about the fact that my new, hot boss is getting back together with that annoying Ross guy. I can't believe they ever even dated. Really, what does she see in him?

I decide to get another coffee for Rachel, thinking her and Ross could always break up again and then she'll still have me - her awesome, good-looking assistant to rebound with.

I head back upstairs with the coffee and find Rachel's door still shut, that means Ross is still in there. Thank god I unplugged my phone, I don't want to think about what might be going on in there.

In another moment, Rachel's door opens and I jump, not expecting it.

"Okay, I'll see you tonight," Ross breathes happily and leans in to kiss her. I look away.

"Bye," I hear Rachel breathe happily as Ross exits.

Rachel walks over at me.

"I got you a coffee," I tell her and hold the cup out to her.

"Oh, thank you Joey," she says, still glowing.

"Any messages for me?" she inquires.

"Oh... um," I quickly press the button on my desk phone to check and remember why the screen is completely dark.

"Huh, is your phone broke?" Rachel asks, noticing the blank screen.

"Oh, um...I don't know," I play dumb and pretend to fiddle with the buttons.

Rachel looks down and quickly finds the cord that is unplugged.

"I think I found the problem," she states, picking up the cord and showing me the issue.

I guiltily smile at her.

"Opps, must have stepped on it or something," I shrug.

She completely accepts this made-up excuse and plugs my phone back in for me.

I quickly check the voicemail box and see there's no new messages.

"Nothing new right now," I tell her.

"Great, thanks," she comments and then turns to head back into her office.

"Won't happen again boss," I remark.

* * *

Now that Rachel is back with her ex, I might as well forget it and focus on other things. By other things, I mean other women.

I head out after work to a bar and go home with a hot blonde. I accidentally end up falling asleep at her apartment.

In the morning, I use the excuse that I need to get to work and for once it's actually true.

Around noon, I'm sitting at my desk debating what to get for lunch when two hands suddenly cover my eyes. I would freak out, but I don't because a part of me thinks it might be Rachel. I can't think of who else it would be and although it would be an inappropriate thing for my boss to do, I wouldn't mind Rachel doing any inappropriate thing she wants.

"Guess who?" a little voice sings and it's not Rachel's voice.

I escape the hands and twist around in my chair to find my one night stand from last night standing behind me. I must have mentioned that I got this job at Ralph Lauren.

"Oh, heyyy," I breathe nervously as I have completely forgotten her name.

"Are you excited to see me again so soon?" she asks.

_No, not really, why is she at my work? Damn it, what is her name?_

"Heh, duh! Why wouldn't I be?" I quickly lie through my teeth.

She smiles even wider.

"It's so cool that you work here! Do you get a discount?" she rattles on as Rachel emerges from her office.

I'm instantly embarrassed. I don't want Rachel to see me with my one night stand, she's going I think it's my girlfriend and I still want Rachel to always think I'm single in case an opportunity with her ever presents itself.

"Hi there, I didn't know you had a guest coming," Rachel remarks in a friendly tone.

"Hi I'm Melody."

_I never would have remembered that._

Melody skips over to Rachel to extend her hand out.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Rachel," Rachel shakes Melody's hand.

Melody walks back to me and slides her hand over my shoulder and down my arm in an affectionate way. I quickly stand up to stop it from happening.

"Huh, well I'm glad we all met. Why don't we go?" I stress to Melody.

"You're taking your lunch now?" Rachel assumes.

"Yes! I'll uh be back in a bit," I quickly use the excuse presented to me and hurry Melody out.

I break it off with Melody after lunch and she's pretty pissed about it. I mean, it's not my fault she thought we were about to embark on a two month relationship or something. I didn't sign up for any commitment when I went home with her last night.

I head back to the office and settle back in at my desk.

Rachel approaches my desk with a paper in her hand.

"How was your lunch?" she inquires.

"Oh, fine," I grunt.

"Is that your girlfriend?"

"_No_," I say too sharply and Rachel looks surprised by my tone.

"She's uh, just a...friend," I cover up, not wanting to admit to her it was only a one night stand.

"A friend...huh," she nods suspiciously.

She probably knows the truth. I guess it doesn't matter, she's with Ross anyway.

"We're not that close," I comment.

Rachel simply smiles and then hands me the paper in her hand.

"A few more things for today," she explains.

"You got it, boss."

She walks back into her office and I let my head drop into my hands feeling like an idiot.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, I'm sitting at my desk when another man I don't know walks past me and again stops in front of Rachel's closed door.

It's amazing they all don't see me.

The man is holding garment bags that I assume have clothes in them.

"Hi, can I help you?"

"Oh, yes I'm just dropping some things off for Rachel," the man explains.

"Okay, she's in a meeting. Want me to take them?" I offer.

"That's ok, we're going for coffee after," he tells me.

"Okay," I reply simply.

"I'm Chandler, by the way, I'm Rachel's friend," he introduces himself.

"Hey, I'm Joey, Rachel's assistant."

"I know, I've heard," he replies animatedly.

"I hope not from Ross," I half kid with him.

"Ross has a couple thoughts about you," he admits.

"Yeah, I heard," I sigh.

"But hey, he's fine with you now... I'm sure," he says with a shaky confidence.

I make a face that I don't believe him and he chuckles.

"Yeah, Ross is just the jealous type, he's really not a bad guy," he shares.

I simply nod, not really wanting to talk about Ross anymore.

"Well, she should be finishing up soon," I tell him.

"Great, thanks," he says and seats himself in one of the chairs in the hallway.

Already, I like Chandler way better than Ross. If anything, Rachel should date Chandler, he's so much more chill. Although, he might be gay... I don't know, I just get a vibe from him.

In another few minutes, Rachel opens her door.

"Hey Chandler, sorry my call ran late," she says.

"No worries, I brought the dresses," he states, walking over to her.

"But Monica picked them out right?"

"Of course."

"_Thank god_, okay thank you. Let me put these in my closet and then we can go," she notes and hurries back into her office with the garment bags.

Chandler turns and looks over at me again since he's awkwardly waiting out in the hall for her.

"Hey, you like the Knicks?" he comments after noticing a framed photo I have displayed on my desk.

"Oh yeah," I answer enthusiastically.

"Me too, I go to games all the time," he says.

"Really? That's awesome."

"Have you been to a game?"

"Not for a while - I didn't have the money," I explain.

"Oh, that makes sense," he says.

Rachel walks back out to the hall now and so our conversation ends.

"I'll be back in an hour Joey," Rachel informs me.

"No problem," I say.

"Nice meeting you," Chandler adds.

"You too," I reply.

They walk out.

* * *

Rachel returns to the office over two hours later.

"Sorry Joey, I lost track of time. Were you ok by yourself?" she asks right when she gets in.

"No issues here, I finished your list" I tell her and hand her back her to-do list she gave me this morning.

"Great, I will write you a new list, just give me a few minutes," she says.

She takes the list from me and start rummaging through her work bag for a something.

"How was your coffee?"

"Very good, thanks."

"You were getting coffee for a while," I cant help, but point out.

"Oh, well actually my friends and I hang out at a coffee shop down the street. Central Perk, have you ever been?"

I shake my head no.

"Yeah, so Ross and my other friend Phoebe met us there and we just lost track of time. I should warn you, it may happen more often," she confesses to me with a rueful smile.

"Okay, sounds like fun," I shrug casually.

She finally whips out a folder and a few other papers from her bag.

"Alright, let me get you a new list," she confirms and then heads back to her office.

* * *

The rest of the day goes by pretty slow. Rachel didn't have too many other things for me and she seemed a bit distracted the rest of the day.

It's finally five o'clock and I'm packing up my things to head home when Rachel pages me on my desk phone.

"Hey, Joey could you stop in for just a second before you go?"

Her door is shut so I go over and gently knock.

"Come in," she calls.

I open the door.

The moment I see her, I freeze.

She's wearing a skin-tight, low-cut black dress. She looks beyond amazing.

"Can I ask your opinion?" she speaks carefully.

"Of course," I nod.

"What do you think?" she asks and places her hands on her hips to refer to the dress that I can't take my eyes off of. I try to stare in the right places, but I'm not sure where to look. I quickly look back at her eyes and keep them there. I swallow before answering, trying to think of a proper response to say to my boss.

"Looks... great," I settle on.

She doesn't seem too thrilled with this response. She looks down at the dress again.

"Maybe it's too much?" she comments almost to herself and walks over to her closet to look for something else.

I want to tell her how incredible she looks, but I don't know what's okay to say. I also kind of hate that it's all for Ross. Geez, is that guy lucky, look at her in that dress. Now, I can't help, but stare since her back is turned to me.

"Maybe a red?" she continues debating and pulls out a red dress that I'm sure she would look just as hot in.

"No, um, I mean really you look... great," I falter back to the lamest response because I don't know if I'm allowed to say how smoking hot she looks in that dress.

"Well, I just want to look perfect - it's kind of a big night," she worries aloud.

I step closer to her. "Trust me, you look perfect," I tell her sincerely.

She seems to believe me now and she calms a bit.

"Okay, you're sure? I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't even be asking you. I just wanted a second opinion," she explains.

"Ross is a lucky guy," I assure her.

She finally pauses and smiles at me.

"You're sweet," she expresses.

She walks back around to her desk to grab her purse. She begins to walk out so I exit with her and grab my backpack from my desk to walk out with her.

"Hey, you're not just saying all that cause I'm your boss, are you?" she suddenly questions me.

"Definitely not," my voice cracks a bit and I think it sounded a bit too serious because Rachel looks at me for a moment. But then she just smiles and continues walking out.

I head out to another bar to get my mind off how hot Rachel looked tonight and to not think about the fact that I can't believe Ross gets to enjoy all that.

I meet a tall brunette, but I only get her phone number. She tells me she's free tomorrow night so we make a date for dinner. At least it's something.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm at work the next day when Rachel walks in late. I assume it's due to her steamy date last night.

"Hey, how was your big night?" I inquire as she walks past my desk.

She stops and shakes her head.

"Awful," she spits and stomps into her office.

I jump up, this is my chance! I can't believe it's gone south this quickly.

I step carefully into her office.

"Are you okay?" I ask her gently.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just annoyed is all. You know sometimes men are such... assholes! No offense," she huffs.

"No, we one hundred percent are," I concur.

She tries to smile through her frustration, but barely does.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I offer.

"It's stupid. Ross forgot about our anniversary - or no he didn't forget, he doesn't believe it counts anymore because we broke up and got back together! We got in a huge fight about it," she reveals to me, still aggravated.

I shouldn't be happy, but I'm so happy Ross is an ass.

"Of course, it counts. It's not like your past never happened," I reason on her side.

"Exactly! Why doesn't he get that?"

I merely shake my head, trying not to say anything bad about Ross although I would be happy to.

"Ugh, I'm sorry to bring my personal life to work, I shouldn't bother you with these bothersome details," she suddenly apologizes.

"I don't mind," I counter.

"No, I'm sure you don't want to hear about my dating life," she shakes her head.

"Let me at least try to cheer you up. Want me to get you something? I can grab you a coffee or doughnut?" I offer.

She lets out a breath and smiles at me.

"Thank you Joey, you're so sweet, but I'm fine. I need to focus on my work and deal with Ross later," she decides.

That one stings, I guess they're still going to try and make it work. I was hoping they would break up.

"Okay," I conclude and walk back to my desk to give her time alone.

* * *

A few hours later, Rachel approaches my desk and tells me she wants to go over a new system that I need to learn to order samples. She pulls one of the waiting chairs over to desk and sits very close to me.

She begins going through the system with me step by step on my computer and I'm trying to pay attention, but she's so close I can smell her prefume, I would bump into her leg if I move too much.

After she goes through it all, she has me run through a sample order with her and I surprisingly do it correctly.

"Great, perfect job," she expresses.

Her mood is still solemn from the Ross drama. I feel bad I can't cheer her up or, you know, make out with her.

"So, now we'll use this system to make any sample orders," she clarifies for me.

"Got it," I confirm.

She begins to get up and then stops herself.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Do you want to go to the Knicks game tonight?" she inquires.

_Did I just hear her right? _

_Is this a date?_

I try to keep my cool.

"Really?"

"Yeah, Chandler called, he was supposed to go with Ross, but Ross isn't going anymore," she explains.

My excitement dissipates at her clarification.

"Okay, if he's sure - I love the knicks," I still accept the offer.

"Okay, they're both yours," she says.

"Two tickets?"

"Yeah."

Maybe she would come with me if I had no one to invite?

"I don't have anyone to go with," I test.

"Oh, well if you don't mind I'm sure Chandler would still love to go, I can ask him for you," she suggests.

I hide my disappointment and fake a smile.

"Sure, sounds great," I force out in a delighted tone.

She smiles at me and heads back to her office.

I hear her call Chandler and I can tell he agrees to going to the game with me.

Nothing against this Chandler guy, I just really wanted a date with my hot boss.

* * *

That night, Chandler and I meet at the game.

We walk to our seats.

"Thanks again for offering me the tickets," I thank him.

"Thanks for letting me still come," he chuckles as we sit down.

"Wow, these seats are awesome!" I exclaim at the view.

"Yeah, we always buy the same section, I think they're the best seats."

"So, why couldn't Ross come?" I can't help, but ask.

"Well, he got in a big fight with Rachel last night, so he figured he should talk things out with her since they didn't resolve anything yesterday," he explains.

"I heard about the fight. Rachel seemed pretty down all day," I reveal.

Chandler looks sad about this, but doesn't say anything. Probably to protect Ross.

"So, how do you know Ross and Rachel?" I inquire.

"High school, Ross was my best friend and his sister was best friends with Rachel," he shares.

"Wow, that's cool you all kept in touch."

"Yeah, it is nice. I'm actually dating Ross's sister now, Monica," he tells me.

"Really?" I say more surprised by the fact that he is in fact straight.

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy. It just kind of happened," he says.

We watch the rest of the game without discussing Ross or Rachel.

The game ends up being awesome, the Knicks win.

We travel home separately and I have to say, I actually had a good time with Chandler. He's really not half bad that guy.

* * *

I get home late after the game and find a message on my machine.

It's from some woman named Kelly. I don't even a know a Kelly.

She's leaving me a message about some dinner and _oh_ _shit_, Kelly was my date tonight. I completely forgot I had dinner plans!

Oh my god, what is wrong with me? I blew off potential sex for a basketball game with another guy? Geez, am I okay?

I guess I got distracted thinking I could be going with Rachel. And the tickets were free, so I guess I can't really blame myself.

I spend the next few minutes trying to think of a lie to tell Kelly.

I call her back and tell her the best excuse I can think of. We reschedule our date for the following night.


	5. Chapter 5

When I get to work the next day, Rachel immediately asks me how the game was.

"It was awesome, the Knicks won!" I gloat.

"I heard, I'm glad you had a good time," she remarks.

I want to ask if her and Ross patched things up, mainly for selfish reasons, but I'm realizing I probably shouldn't keep prying about her personal life. So, I don't ask and she doesn't say anything.

We work separately for a few hours and then I get a call on my desk phone. I'm very confused when it's Kelly.

"Uh, how'd you get this number?" I lower my voice already concerned this girl is stalking me.

I didn't tell her where I worked, I learned my lesson the last time.

"Um, you gave me two numbers. I tried your other phone - so I figured this is your work," she claims.

I realize I was pretty drunk when I met her. I guess I gave her both numbers, that was dumb.

"Oh, sorry I forgot," I apologize.

"That's ok, I was just going to ask if we could push back our date tonight a little later? Do you think you could make eight instead of seven?" she requests.

"Sure, yeah," I keep my voice hushed, not wanting Rachel to overhear anything.

"Great. How's your ankle feeling?" Kelly asks.

I almost forget that the best excuse I could think of for standing her up last night was that I got hit by a car. I told her, even so, I only sprained my ankle.

"Oh, yeah it's...not bad. I can walk on it," I tell her.

"You don't have it wrapped?"

"No, I barely even limp. It's honesty amazing how well I'm recovering," I boast.

"Wow, yeah it's like you never even got hit by a car!" she marvels.

"I know, right!" I chuckle a little too loudly and then turn my head away from Rachel's office, hoping she can't hear that well.

"I'm really looking forward to tonight. So, I'll see you at eight - don't get hit by any cars on your way okay?" Kelly jokes with me.

"I definitely won't, see you tonight," I say quietly again.

"Bye."

"Bye."

I hang up the phone.

When I look up Rachel is standing right by my desk. I jump, not expecting her to be there. She giggles at my display of fright.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," she snickers.

I let out a large breath.

"You didn't," I fake.

She smirks at my obvious lie.

"Well, I have to apologize twice because I also didn't mean to overhear, but I did," she starts.

My stomach sinks now. The one thing I didn't want was for her to hear.

"But I heard you talking about recovering and I just wanted to ask if you were ok? Are you hurt?" she questions me.

"Me? No, I'm fine," I say confidently.

"Oh, well I heard you mention limping and recovering well?" she pushes more.

I suppose I should keep up the lie...right? I don't want to have two different stories.

"Yeah, I kind of got hit by a car," I tell her softly.

"Oh my god, Joey! When did this happen?" she pries, extremely concerned now.

"Um, last night," I answer.

Her face suddenly falls flat from her disarray.

"Last night? You weren't limping at all today," she observes.

"Yeah, I didn't get _that_ hurt."

She narrows her eyes at me.

"_Joey_," she states firmly.

"Yeah?" I reply innocently as if she's not catching me in a bold faced lie.

"It's pretty hard to believe you got hit by a car _last_ _night_ and you're completely fine?" she lays out accusingly.

"Not completely fine, I have a light sprain in my ankle," I continue my lie and she only narrows her eyes even more at me.

She crosses her arms and I can't take this, I hate lying.

"_Okay_, I didn't get hit by a car," I confess.

"Joey! How can you lie about something like that?"

I guiltily rub the back of my head, trying to think of a better excuse than the truth.

"Huh, uh it's kind of funny, you see, I... I needed a good excuse," is all I admit.

"For what?"

"Uhhmm it was..." I try to think of anything else, but of course my brain is blank.

"For a date?" she guesses.

"What? Why would you say that?" I ask nervously.

"Just the way you were talking," she reasons.

I can't believe she guessed it. I guess it is pretty pointless to keep trying to hide any date I have from her. I mean, she's still with Ross and they're clearly trying to make things work.

"Yeah, it was a date," I finally admit.

"Why did you need to pretend to be injured?" she continues.

Now I'm actually embarrassed to admit I forgot about a date when I went to the game with Chandler. I also can't admit that part of that had to do with desperately hoping I was going with her.

"It was dumb, it just kind of happened and now I have to keep up the lie. I don't want her to be mad," I avoid the real question.

"I know it's none of my business, but I think it would still be best for you to come clean with her," she advises me.

"You're right," I say to try and end this conversation.

There's silence for a moment and I think she feels she over stepped a boundary already.

"Well... um have fun on your date tonight," she says and it makes me sad.

I don't want her wishing me fun on a date, I want _her_ to be my date.

"Thanks," I say and she returns to her office.

Maybe I should just get over this fantasy of going out with my boss. It really doesn't look like it's ever happening and I'm going crazy trying to hide my dating life and keep myself "available" for her when I doubt it's ever going to happen.

I'm deciding right now to let it go, I'm letting my smoking hot boss go.


	6. Chapter 6

On Monday, I'm at work like usual.

I haven't spoken to Kelly since our date which was Friday night. The date went well, _really well_. I like Kelly, but I'm just not into long-term commitment so I assume I'll probably break it off with her if she decides to call me again. Besides, I had to do a lot of limping on the date and I don't think I have the energy to keep that up. It's tough keeping up a badass lie like getting hit by a car.

Anyway, today is a difficult day because I have an audition this afternoon and I really don't want to miss it. This is my first audition in weeks.

I haven't had a lot of office jobs, but I assume an audition for another job is not a great excuse to take off work.

I'm trying to figure out if I could get to the audition and get back within an hour so it can count as my lunch break, but it's also a twenty minute ride so I'm thinking that's a definite no. Maybe I should act sick? I'm just so bad at lying, I don't want Rachel to fire me. She already caught me in a lie once although it had nothing to do with her.

It's already one o'clock and my audition is at two, so I only have about forty minutes to decide.

I'm still contemplating a game plan when Rachel returns from lunch.

"Hey Joey," she greets me.

"Hey."

"Any messages for me?"

"No."

"Did you take your lunch?" she asks me.

"Uh, no," I lie.

I did run downstairs and ate a hefty sandwich.

"Are you skipping lunch?" she questions me.

"I would never. I was actually gonna take my lunch in like... forty minutes," I tell her.

"That's specific," she notes.

"Yeah, I just... know I'll be hungry then," I horribly attempt a reason.

She gives me a funny look.

"Alright then, you enjoy...in forty minutes," she teases and turns to head back to her office.

"Also, I'll be an hour today, maybe even a little more if that's ok?" I quickly add.

"Okay, no problem. Are you meeting a friend?" she inquires.

"No - I mean yeah - I meant, it's a family member who uh needs my help," I stammer out.

_Why am I piling on the lies?_ I'm making this so much worse.

"Oh, ok take your time," she says.

"Thanks."

* * *

I go to my audition and I think it goes well.

I get back to the office around 3:45, not terrible timing in my mind.

Right when I get in, Rachel calls me into her office.

I'm nervous she's mad that I took so long or she's about to question me about the family member I made up. I start trying to think of details for my lie.

_I have an Uncle Tim... and he is... sick?_

I walk into Rachel's office with my mind still spinning, trying to think of my story.

_Uncle Tim just had surgery,_ that could work.

"Hi Joey. Can you take a seat?" Rachel says.

I sit down.

_Yeah, I went to visit him in the hospital and I had to bring him to the cafeteria for lunch because they forgot to feed him._ That's pretty good!

"So, I wanted to talk to you," Rachel begins.

"Sure," I say still distracted by my thoughts.

_And then a squirrel ran in and stole my Uncle Tim's shoe and I had to chase it down the street!_

"Are you happy here?" Rachel asks and her question quickly knocks me back to realty.

"Yeah - of course," I say, now completely focused on our conversation.

"I don't like lying," she states.

I start to panic. How does she always catch me in my lies?

"No, I had to buy him new shoes, I couldn't catch the squirrel!" I blurt out nonsense from my pre-planned story.

She looks at me very perplexed.

"What?" she shakes her head.

I feel so bad lying to her. What am I doing?

"Nothing, sorry," I reply quietly.

"I'm just going to get right to the point. You left work to go on an audition?" she questions me and I freeze.

How does she know? Can she read minds? I'm genuinely debating if she secretly has super powers.

"Wh-what? Why would you say that?" I stutter nervously.

She pulls out a piece of paper.

"You left this script on your desk and you wrote 'audition at 2pm'," she shows me.

Damn it, Tribbani, such a rookie mistake.

I slowly smile as I feel my face flush.

"Heh, that is pretty damning evidence huh?" my voice breaks.

"Look Joey, if you're unhappy here please tell me. It's fine if you want to leave, but if it's something I'm doing or the work we can change things," she confronts me.

The truth is, I never planned on staying and this was always a temporary job, but I can't tell her that. That sounds bad and I don't want Rachel to think it had anything to do with her.

I shake my head.

"No, no it's nothing you're doing and the work is great. I just... thought the movie sounded really cool. I didn't want to pass it up," I tell her.

She nods her head and looks down at the script.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone," I say after a few moments of silence.

She still continues to nod and not say anything.

Is she mad? What's happening?

"I should have told you," I add, thinking maybe she's waiting for me to keep apologizing.

Still no response and she hasn't looked up.

Suddenly, she puts her hand over her mouth and closes her eyes.

"Rachel? Are you okay?" I ask.

"I'm sorry," she breathes.

Her eyes start watering and she quickly stands up and turns away from me.

Is she crying? What's happening? She can't be that upset that I could have been leaving, I'm not _that_ good a worker.

"Rachel?" I get up and walk a few steps closer to her.

"I'm so sorry Joey, it's not you... I just... me and Ross broke up - _again_," she huffs through some tears.

My eyes widen. I know I gave her up, but how can I not be excited?

"I'm sorry," I say, keeping my voice level.

"Oh my god, I'm crying at work - I'm sorry, this is so uncomfortable. You can go, really, you can leave," she worries aloud and quickly motions me to the door.

"I don't want to leave you like this," I tell her.

She tries to wipes her eyes while avoiding smearing her makeup and takes a deep, sad breath in.

"This is so inappropriate, you shouldn't have to see this," she cries again.

I walk over to her.

"Hey, its okay," I say.

"No, this is so dumb. This has nothing to do with you - ugh, we... we should have never gotten back together, it was so stupid! Ross and I never worked, I don't know what I was thinking - it's all wine's fault!" she spills out.

I nod my head.

"Wine makes a lot of bad choices," I concur.

She chuckles a bit through her tears at my response.

"Joey, really, I'm so sorry I'm crying in front of you. I totally understand if you don't want to work here. Look at me, I'm a mess," she sighs.

"You're never a mess," I assure her.

She looks at me when I say this.

"I need to get it together. This isn't professional - ugh, I haven't been professional this whole time. The truth is, I only hired you because I thought you were cute," she confesses to me.

My hearts speeds up now. My hot boss is single and now she admits she thinks I'm cute. I think I have a chance!

"Well, the truth is, I only took the job cause I thought you were cute," I admit back.

She looks at me surprised, even though she said the same thing I did.

"Huh, well that's... funny," she quips nervously which only makes me thinks she likes me even more.

"Is it?" I ask and now she stops fidgeting and looks at me again.

I think I should make a move, but will she fire me? Does it matter?

"Well, more ironic...I guess," she speaks softly, clearly trying to merely fill any awkward space.

"Maybe humorous in a sense, when you think about it more...," she continues and I start smiling at her.

"What?" she laughs nervously at my broad grin.

"You're still so cute," I tell her.

Her cheeks start to blush and she looks away.

"Oh, no I'm not... I was just crying," she frets.

I walk right up to her now, she avoids eye contact.

I do realize she's still my boss and maybe if I want this to happen, I have to make a choice.

"What if I quit?" I propose.

She looks up sharply.

"So, you are unhappy here. I knew it," she assumes.

I shake my head.

"No, but what if I quit anyway?"

She looks lost. She shakes her head.

"Why would you want to do that?" she questions me.

I stare into her eyes and this time she doesn't break it.

"So, I can do this," I speak as I lean into her lips and I can't believe she lets it happen. _She let me kiss her._

Her lips are so soft. Maybe I've been building it up in my head for weeks now, but her lips are so amazing. I move closer for more. I kiss her so softly, so gently and now she's kissing me back. We're kissing slow and controlled, it's just our hot breath and tongues and wet mouths melding together until she finally pulls away.

I wait while she looks like she's about to say how wrong this is and how we shouldn't be doing this.

"Technically, you're still... my emplo-" she begins, but I cut her off.

"I quit."

I lunge back to her lips and I guess that was all she needed because she kisses me right back.


	7. Chapter 7

I'm making out with my boss.

God, it's so hot. It's exactly how I pictured it would be and I have my hands around her waist and I can't wait to get her clothes off.

I wonder if she'll let us go all the way in her office. That would be _amazing_.

Before I even try to move things further, the phone from my desk rings.

Rachel draws her lips back from mine and I look over my shoulder at my desk out in the hall.

"I should get that," I realize aloud.

"But you quit," Rachel reminds me.

"Oh...yeah."

The phone keeps ringing and Rachel looks concerned, she is probably going to pick it up if I don't. So, I hurry back to my desk and answer the phone with my typical greeting. It's Rachel's boss, I put him on hold and tell her through the open doorway.

She frowns at me and I know she has to take the call.

"Sorry," she whispers and then closes her door to take it.

I plop down into my desk chair, defeated.

While I wait for Rachel to finish her call, I continue with some of my tasks for the day - what else am I going to do?

Finally, she opens her office door and I stand up, really hoping we jump right back to where we left off.

"Sorry," she apologizes again.

"It's ok."

Silence. Oh no, I don't want it to be awkward, I want things to heat right up again.

"So, what should we do?" she surprises me by asking.

My eyebrows raise and I can't help, but showcase a small grin.

I step closer to her.

"Make out again?" I suggest optimistically.

She smiles, that's a good sign.

"Well, it's almost five you know?" she points out the time.

"Wanna get out of here?" I offer immediately.

She presses her lips together in an excited shyness.

"Is this... crazy?" she nearly whispers with a smile.

"Definitely not," I assure her.

I walk up to her to close the space between us again.

"I mean you really want to quit - who's going to make me fun lists?" she teases.

I snicker at her question.

"I can make _other_ types of lists," I smirk.

"Like what?" she asks and when she does, she lets her hands fall to the collar of my shirt.

Her touch instantly affects me.

She lets her fingers gently run down a few buttons on my shirt and I'm already getting turned on again just thinking of everything we could do right now.

I nearly forget her question.

"I could write a list of all the reasons we should go back to my place," I huff.

She looks at me with a devilish smile.

"What's reason number one?" she playfully inquires.

"This," I breathe and then lean back in to find her lips again.

I think she likes this reason because she kisses me right back and her hands roam through my hair.

I let my hands run down her sides and around her back, I pull her closer, until we hear voices approaching.

We pull away and stand unusually far apart as we realize it's only some employees walking by, outside the hallway, chatting.

They pass by and the voices fade.

"We should go," Rachel insists and I happily oblige and go to grab my coat.

Rachel goes into her office to grab her things as well and I'm so excited. I can't believe this is finally happening.

I pause when I notice all the personal things on my desk.

Rachel walks back out, ready to go.

"Should I grab my stuff now?" I ask her.

She looks at my desk.

"You know, maybe you could keep working here until I find a replacement," Rachel suggests.

I think it over for a moment.

"Okay," I agree.

"Thank you, that will really help," she says.

"Alright, enough work talk," I smile broadly and wrap my arm around her again.

"Let's get out of here."

Rachel smiles and we head out.

We make sure to walk out of the building normally and not touch each other until we catch a cab.

The second we get in the cab, I'm all over her again and she doesn't stop me.

I pull her legs over my lap and don't take a break from her lips the entire ride to my apartment.

We get to my apartment and run upstairs.

I quickly show her a tour to my bedroom.

Before long, I finally have my hot boss naked and she looks incredible naked.

I can't believe we have to wear clothes at work. If I could stare at her naked all day, then... well, I would get nothing done... oh maybe that's why that rule is in place.

Anyway, we get right to business, but the fun kind of business. The really hot, amazing, orgasmic type of business... if you know what I mean.


End file.
